Playing the Villain
by mysterious intentions
Summary: It didn't matter how much she hated him as long as her life would be better, that was the mantra Yahiro recited like a chant over and over in his head.


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The clacking of agile fingertips against a keyboard resounded through the otherwise quiet room, the noise only stopping when the boy paused to read a webpage with meticulous scrutiny, opting instead to stroke the space bar with the tip of his fingernail.

"Yahiro-sama, you have a guest." A polite voice rang clearly through the intercom.

He didn't have a chance to respond as he heard the wooden doors behind him swish open. His cursor quickly shifted from scrolling down the sidebar to hastily shutting his computer into hibernation mode, inwardly rolling his eyes at the maid's decision to allow the guest in without his permission.

But he plastered on a calm countenance and politely inclined his head towards his guest, hazel eyes widening fractionally upon recognition. "What an unusual guest I have," he remarked lightheartedly.

His guest did not reply, instead he snaked his hand around his back and reached for the brass door handle, closing the door with a soft click. A nearly inaudible sigh escaped through his lips. "Good evening Yahiro," he inched forward slightly, black suede shoes scuffing against the burgundy carpet.

"Aw Kei-kun, how kind of you to pay me a visit!" Though Yahiro greeted his childhood acquaintance cheerfully, tints of irritation speckled his eyes. Yahiro scanned his eyes over Kei's attire of neatly ironed navy blue pants, and in replacement for the standard SA jacket, a simple white button-down shirt tucked into his pants. After figuring in the rigid posture and sculpted features, Kei was the epitome of prim and proper. The hero always had to be so perfect didn't he?

As Kei cleared his throat somewhat uncomfortably, Yahiro held up a hand that promptly signaled him to stop. "I think I already have an inkling about why you've suddenly decided to bless me with your appearance," the edges of Yahiro's uncanny smile faded away and his sugarcoated voice dipped into a near scathing tone. "Good ol' Kei-kun, always obediently following Hikari-chan's each and every whim."

Kei's lips pursed into a thin line and the hands fisted at his side clenched, the nearly imperceptible tensing not escaping Yahiro's gaze. "Megumi is my friend too; everyone in the SA takes care of each other."

A smirk played on Yahiro's face as he noted Kei's inability to directly contradict how much Hikari's got him wrapped around her fingers.

"Yes, yes of course, the SA is like a little family of some sorts, how could I possibly forget?" Yahiro pinched the bridge of his nose. "And since you all share everything with each other I'm sure you've already been told about what a despicable, horrible, traitorous person I am, so what more do you want me to admit to Takishima?"

Kei raised a fine eyebrow at the rare usage of his surname. "I'm just looking for a real explanation, I know you're not really as bad as you make yourself seem."

"Oh lucky me! Receiving such fine words of praise from Kei-kun," Yahiro held a hand to his mouth in mock jubilation.

When Kei didn't respond with anything more than a slight twitch on the corner of his lips, Yahiro sighed and strolled around his desk in a semi-circle, propping himself on top of the smooth surface.

Gazing at Kei with unusually steely eyes, Yahiro was on the verge of directing his guest to the exit when something, something about Kei's mien made Yahiro hesitate and chew on the inside of his cheek. In all the years that Yahiro had known Kei, even as a child he performed every task thrown to him without a single bead of sweat trailing down his forehead. Heck, there could be a raging typhoon cracking trees in half, and the prodigy wouldn't even bat an eyelash as he pummeled a pack of livid bears in the torrential rain.

The only other emotions Yahiro saw was perhaps a semblance of fear flashing through Kei's aloof eyes when his dear Hikari was in danger, but aside from that Kei's facial expressions were as exciting as wet paper.

Except for this instance. Yes, Kei still carried around that damn air of superiority, but he was missing the full force of his "all-knowing" atmosphere, like it was muddled, clouded, and this intrigued Yahiro enough to pique his curiosity.

So with a cock of his head, Yahiro repeated the story with barebones details. "Very well. I'll tell you exactly what I told Megumi-chan. Even though I've been together with Megumi-chan for over a year, I've been in love with Akira-chan for much longer. Whenever I was with Megumi-chan and seemed like I was happy just being in her presence, I was really only happy because I was able to get closer to Akira-chan's beautiful smile."

Nothing on Kei's expression drastically shifted, save for a frown tugging at his mouth, so Yahiro assumed the same story had been told, retold, analyzed, and told again.

"So two weeks ago I was just sooo overcome with this guilt," Yahiro thrust his hands into the air and stretched his arms widely to emphasize, "To the point that I needed to inform Megumi-chan of my despicable thoughts or else I would destroy myself from the inside and become hopelessly insane."

The Saiga heir could sense ominous waves of dark aggravation emanating off of Kei's repressed anger as his posture stiffened. "The silly girl didn't believe me at first. Kept saying it wasn't like me to do something like that and she knew our relationship was based on real feelings or something like that, so I had to show her this," Yahiro fished something out of the back packet of his pants and tossed it in Kei's general direction.

Kei caught the wallet effortlessly, gradually tearing his glare away from Yahiro to observe the object carefully. An image of Megumi's trembling fingers on the wrinkled leather and her moistening coffee-brown eyes flashed through Yahiro's thoughts.

That silly girl. Always so ready to shed tears for his sake, but then too proud to do it for her own.

"This?" It's the first word Kei had spoken in the last couple of minutes as he unfastened the wallet to reveal a photo of Akira beaming brightly, exposing a row of shiny white teeth that complimented the sunlight bouncing off her auburn hair. Though the picture appeared like it had been taken a few years ago, it was in nearly perfect condition with the surface of the photo still retaining a glossy sheen.

"Yes, that," Yahiro affirmed with a wave of his hand. "Photos always have a much greater effect on people then simply words."

Kei nodded absently, still fiddling with Yahiro's wallet.

"And before you SA start plotting some scheme to tail me around and make sure I don't cause any 'trouble,' I plan to leave Akira-chan and the school director's son alone and have no intention of breaking them up since I know I'm already a lost cause." His tone fluctuated in various pitches, as if he was weary from explaining something so rudimentary. But Yahiro's words seemed to trickle in one ear and fly out the other as Kei's demeanor stayed still as stone and his eyes remained glued to the leather in his hands.

"Kei-kun, it's not very polite of you to demand an explanation and then not even pay attention," a suspiciously saccharine smile spread widely across Yahiro's pale face.

"My apologies," Kei deadpanned sounding as apologetic as if he had accidentally spilled water into the ocean. The number one student in Hakusen Academy whipped something out of Yahiro's wallet with a quick _fwip _sound, his eyes widening before settling into a conspicuous smugness.

"Kei-kun, it's also not very polite to rummage through another's things. Really now I thought you were bred better than this, seeing as—" Yahiro halted dead in his tracks.

Kei had suddenly materialized only a few steps in front of him, dangling another photo mere inches from his face.

The Polaroid photo of a petite brunette pecking him on the cheek was suddenly shoved further into his face. Most of her long luscious hair cascaded down her back, but some of the locks that framed her heart-shaped face tickled Yahiro's neck. Her face was a rosy pink from the brisk winter air, tilted at an angle where she could both kiss Yahiro and crinkle her eyes happily into the camera. His eyes had widened like a newborn doe's, unguarded and bordering on innocent, a blush almost instantaneously reddening his cheeks as his mouth parted open slightly. Megumi had laughed once the photo developed, Yahiro immediately reprimanding her for unnecessarily using her voice while turning away to conceal his embarrassment.

"If all you say is true, why is this still behind the picture of Akira?" Kei probed innocuously, tapping the photo with his fingertips.

Yahiro blinked multiple times, attempting to will his mouth to speak coherent thoughts, and at last shrugged indifferently. "Eh, guess I just forgot to throw that out," he answered dismissively.

"Oh, is that so?" Kei flipped the picture towards himself, examining how compared to the immaculate condition of Akira's image, the photo of Yahiro and Megumi wrinkled in several spots and that many creases, from having been folded on numerous occasions, lined the corners. "It looks to me like you take out this photo to view much more often than the other one," Kei returned his own indifferent shrug. "You know, just saying."

"Hahaha," Yahiro's laugh tittered hollowly. "I don't know what you're trying to say Kei-kun, but I'll reiterate. I simply forgot to throw it out." To any average person, Yahiro's nonchalance would have warded off any doubts. However, Kei was no average person. Yahiro could _feel _his guest's haughty aura flare wildly like a spark that had been stoked with dry wood.

"Yes of course," Kei didn't miss a beat. "Then allow me to help you get rid of such an," he smirked at Yahiro's darkening eyes, "Inconsequential memory."

"Now what are you going on about Kei-kun?" Yahiro didn't need to wait long for an answer as Kei tore a tiny slit into the aged paper. "You really shouldn't interfere with other people's belongings," he lightly chided as his back molars grinded together.

"But like you said, I'm only helping you throw away the trash." Kei ripped the photo a bit more, idly noting how loudly the movement reverberated and bounced off the walls.

Yahiro hesitated, an involuntary gasp slipping through his lips. "I can do that myself."

Kei flicked a bit of his sandy brown hair from his eyes and proceeded to split apart the photo. The right side of Yahiro's head was no longer connected to the rest of his body and Yahiro found it incredibly difficult to restrain his grimace from blowing into a full-on scowl. Kei suddenly picked up the pace, ripping down to Megumi's face until her shimmering brown eyes were severed in two.

A pang of something that Yahiro couldn't quite comprehend surged through his chest, his heart slinking towards the pit of his stomach. "Stop that!" He growled through gritted teeth. No thought processing occurred as he scrambled up on his feet and stumbled to snatch the remnants of the photo from Kei's loose grasp. In his haste, he bumped the computer sitting on his desk awake from hibernation mode, illuminating the room with its blue glow.

"That's what I thought…" Kei drawled, not even bothering to hide the traces of amusement glittering in his eyes.

The Saiga heir scowled, his eyebrows furrowing together as he plopped into a red-velvet couch. He tinkered with smoothing out the photograph, a glazed look washing over his eyes.

Kei felt a niggling emotion akin to guilt sprinkle through his chest, but he also knew that no other method would have been able to fracture Yahiro's tough shell. He was quietly sauntering over to the seated boy when the soft azure light of the computer screen captured his attention. Sidetracking from his path to Yahiro, Kei rapidly roved his eyes through the various tabs and websites scattered on the screen.

"The Julliard School, Apply & Audition-The Julliard School, Music-Degrees and Programs-The Julliard School, School of Vocal Arts," Kei murmured the tab titles out loud, lingering on a photo of a crowd of students congregating around a sleek grand piano. "This is where Megumi wants to—" Suddenly the dots connected together in Kei's head as neatly as solving a simple math problem. He didn't bother to finish his sentence.

Yahiro slumped further into his chair, bending forward to rest his arms on his knees. "Yeah," he confirmed Kei's thoughts with a reluctant sigh.

Kei closed his eyes and rubbed at his temples, groaning inwardly as he realized how his eyelids felt like iron curtains. "Yahiro this whole 'playing the villain' rouse, it's really stupid," he flatly stated.

"It's the most effective way for me to deal with things!" He snapped at the brunette harshly. "What else am I supposed to do? This school's her dream! I don't…I don't…" Yahiro trailed off uncomfortably, entwining his fingers together and resting his forehead on his hands. "I don't want to get in the way of her decision."

Kei loosened his tie, the tension in the room nearly palpable. "You didn't have to go about it that way, you could have been honest," Kei suggested almost soothingly.

Though taken aback by the placating tone, Yahiro rolled his eyes anyways. "Then we'd be forever stuck at square one. Singing is her dream, you know that don't you? I want her to enter that fancy American college without anything holding her back."

"What if—"

Yahiro abruptly interrupted, "What if we tried a long-distance relationship? Things would continue fine at first, but then we'll grow apart as we struggle to find commonalities to talk about. Someone new will enter her life, someone who's an expert at playing the guitar. She'll be entranced by his wild personality yet subconsciously trust him because they share a similar fondness for music, she'll eventually feel an irresistible attraction and when he's below her dorm door serenading her on his acoustic a little smile will just bloom across her face and…" He stopped when a palm patted him none-too-gently on the head in what he supposed was meant to be reassuring gesture.

"The great Saiga Yahiro, master of manipulation, has self-esteem issues?" Kei cast him a_ look_, a look that just made the blood boil inside Yahiro's veins and awakened a primal urge to throw this _perfect_ boy out the window with glass shards embedded in his skin and blood dribbling down his chin.

A snarl bubbled from deep inside him and he jerked his head upwards. "Don't be ridiculous Takishima."

Propping himself against the back of the maroon sofa, Kei glanced at Yahiro briefly before his eyes flitted towards the window. The sun had just glided under the horizon, a hazy ochre color still persisting around where the yellow sphere had set, whereas the rest of the sky faded into a darkening gradient of blues.

Each stroke of the clock on the wall vibrated crisply through the thick silence. At last Kei heaved a sigh and spoke up. "Listen to me for once Yahiro, not telling your partner the reasons behind your actions causes so much more pain than it's worth." Kei massaged the furrows on his brow as his own past experiences surfaced to his memories. "Trust me, I know."

"It's different in this scenario," Yahiro calmly retorted.

"How so?"

"We are not you and Hikari-chan…both of you are clearly not human! I mean just look at how many bears you can take down."

The Takishima heir rolled his golden-brown eyes.

"What I mean Kei-kun is that there is scant another couple like you two who would _literally _chase one another from across the globe to be with each other. Any normal person in my situation would realize Megumi-chan would have to make the choice between me or her dream."

"No," Kei rejected the rationale in a heartbeat. "Even if I was in her position, I would still have no intention of breaking up with Hikari unless she didn't want to be with me anymore."

Brushing his hand through his champagne-tinted hair, Yahiro chuckled. "Of course you wouldn't."

"So why can you not do the same?"

"Because Kei-kun," Yahiro extended his legs onto the coffee table and pressed his back into the plush sofa, "You are the hero. Simple as that. And Hikari-chan is occasionally the princess and maybe sometimes the heroine. Doing perfect, righteous things like that suit you." His eyes fluttered shut as he lolled his head backwards to rest on the cushions. "A role like that isn't meant for me."

"That is completely absurd." Kei declared, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't you understand Kei-kun? If I was to maintain a long distance relationship with Megumi-chan, a villain like me would only be a burden, a distraction from her career."

The two boys remained silent, each seemingly lost in their own thoughts. The tension in the room had dissipated into a terse mutual understanding that they had reached a crossroad in beliefs. Kei pushed himself off the back of the sofa and moved towards the door, his footfalls light and elegant. As he lifted his arm for the door handle he turned to lock his stoic eyes with Yahiro's, "You're only _playing_ the villain, Yahiro. I believe in actuality you are more suited to_ be_ the hero. Don't you understand that the villain is the one who gets hurt the most?"

"Hn." A wry smirk pulled at Yahiro's lips. "Who would ever see _me_ as a hero?"

"She did. She does. But you refuse to let yourself believe it." With those parting words and without another glance back, Kei slipped through the mahogany doors.

As the brass door handle shifted back into place, Yahiro's smirk vanished and he struggled to shove down what couldn't possibly have been tears welling up in his eyes.

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Author's Note: The unusualness of YahiroxMegumi is what makes them so intriguing, my take on how a break-up would probably pan out between them. I don't think Megumi would immediately tell the SA about her break up, as she's shown to be secretive when she thinks her problems will trouble others. However, within some time she would probably break down and they would soon rush to their side, hence Kei's somewhat delayed appearance in interrogating Yahiro.

Thank you for reading this and please leave a review!


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